Coyotes make road trip worth it
Tyler Takeda/The Madera Tribune
The Madera Coyotes softball team gathers around Alexis Galvan (facing front) after she picked up a 3-2 victory over Arroyo Grande in the circle Tuesday.
ARROYO GRANDE — At the end of a 12-hour road trip, the Madera Coyotes softball team came home with a Div. I Central Section playoff victory after a 3-2 win in Arroyo Grande.
The ninth-seeded Coyotes made the three-hour trip worth it after scoring runs in the third, fourth and seventh inning and made it stand up through a stressful seventh inning.
Coyote pitcher Alexis Galvan didn’t allow a walk in a complete game victory, her 14th win of the season. She struck out seven and allowed four hits through the first six innings before the eight-seeded Eagles had a late rally.
Madera No. 9 batter Sarah Walter led the Coyotes with three hits. She scored a run and stole two bases. Kailea Ricks and pinch-runner Meah Avila also scored runs. Ricks also went 3-for-3 with a double and Briannah Hamilton hit an RBI double.
Next for the Coyotes is a visit to Clovis North to face the top-seeded Broncos in Thursday’s quarterfinals.
The Coyotes took the Broncos to eight innings in a 2-1 loss on April 23. The loss was Madera’s last loss after winning the next 12 games, including Tuesday’s win against Arroyo Grande.
Galvan seemed to have things under control for most of the game. She allowed a lead-off single in the first, but stranded the runner at second. She allowed a two-out single in the second, but catcher Eliza Nunez threw out the runner trying to steal second.
An error in the fourth, followed by a two-out single put runners at first and third before Galvan recorded a strikeout. Galvan had her only 1-2-3 inning in the sixth.
Madera got on the scoreboard in the third inning. With one out, Walter reached on a bunt single. She stole second and went to third on a groundout. Lealani Ricks looped a soft line drive into left field to drive in Walter for a 1-0 lead.
In the fourth, Kailea Ricks led off the inning with a double to the left-centerfield wall. Hamilton followed with a shot off the same wall for an RBI double with Ricks scoring. Nunez sacrificed Hamilton to third. Arissa Arias came close to driving home Hamilton with a liner to left field, but the Eagles’ shortstop made a diving catch to end the inning.
Ricks led off the sixth inning with a single and advanced to third when Hamilton was narrowly thrown out at first after a perfectly placed bunt. However, a strikeout and a flyout ended the threat.
Madera added an insurance run in the seventh. With one out, Galvan singled to center. Walter lined a single to left to put runners at first and second.
Erika Perez hit a long fly ball to center that went to the fence. Avila, who held up to make sure the ball dropped, advanced to third while the bases were loaded.
Ricks hit a grounder to third while Avila came in to score for a 3-0 lead.
Arroyo Grande started a seventh inning rally with a double to the right-center gap. The next batter hit a single to left and the ball went under the fielder’s glove for a two-base error to drive in the Eagles’ first run.
Galvan got a popup to Kailea Ricks at short for the second out. However, the No. 9 batter singled to left to drive in the Eagles’ second run. An error kept the rally going for Arroyo Grande.
However, Galvan struck out the next batter on three pitches to end the game and send the Coyotes home happy for their three-hour trip back home.
